Michigan
Head of the Charles
Michigan to Travel East for Head of the Charles
10/18/2018 11:32:00 AM | Rowing
» In its final event of the fall, Michigan travels east to the Head of the Charles in Boston, where its 2V8 will race in the Women's Championship Eights at 2:26 p.m. on Sunday.
» In the 2016 edition of this regatta, U-M put both of its varsity eights in the top 10 overall. Last fall, the 1V8 placed 11th to lead the Wolverine tandem.
» When fans see the varsity team next, it will be the start of the 2019 spring season. U-M returns a confident and experienced bunch, including 17 of 23 athletes from the 2018 NCAA Championships lineup which placed seventh overall.
THIS WEEK
Sunday, Oct. 22 -- at Head of the Charles Regatta (Boston, Mass.), 2:26 p.m.
Head of the Charles Information
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BOSTON, Mass. -- The University of Michigan rowing team will wrap up its fall slate this Sunday (Oct. 22) at the famed Head of the Charles Regatta.
U-M is looking to get back on the path of established success at this historic event, as a stretch of top-10 finishes was interrupted last fall. In contrast to past seasons, U-M will race just one varsity eight boat this weekend.
This marks the final fall event for Michigan's varsity program. The novice program will travel to Michigan State next Saturday (Oct. 28) to close out the fall season. Times for those races have yet to be finalized.
Michigan's lineup for the weekend is listed listed below.
Varsity Lineup
Charlotte Powers (coxswain), Emma Luniewicz, Meghan Gutknecht, Victoria Glunt, Madison Byrd, Rachel Fanning, Annika Hoffmann, Kathryn Grotto, Caroline Hendershot
Things to Know
• Earlier this fall, U-M had encouraging varsity and novice scrimmages with Eastern Michigan, and the U-M varsity squad also took advantage of the university's fall study break to travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a series of controlled scrimmages with Big Ten rival Ohio State.
• Originating in 1965, the Head of the Charles Regatta is a two-day affair that attracts more than 11,000 athletes and tens of thousands of spectators to the Charles River in Boston. It takes a dedicated team working year-round and a volunteer group of over 1,700 individuals to put on the event.
• The Wolverines will compete in event 57, the Women's Championship Eights. That event is slated to begin at 2:26 p.m. on Sunday.
• Head coach Mark Rothstein is in his 23rd season at the helm of the program that he helped build from a club team to a varsity powerhouse. He has coached nine teams to top-five NCAA Championship finishes, including two second-place finishes (2001, 2012) and last spring's seventh-place showing. He has been recognized as the Big Ten Coach of the Year on four occasions and was named CRCA National Coach of the Year in 2001.
• Among the roster's top returning athletes, U-M welcomes back five of its eight rowers from the top varsity eight boat at last year's NCAA Championships: Meghan Gutknecht, Victoria Glunt, Shayla Lamb, Kate Burns and Caroline Hendershot.
• Other NCAA-experienced returners include these 10 contributors from last season: Annika Hoffmann, Emma Luniewicz, Perry Bower, Tayla-May Bentley, Megan Hinkle, Kathryn Grotto, Madison Byrd and Grace Gagliardi from the 2V8 and Emily Krebs and Rachel Fanning from the 1V4. U-M also returns coxswains Charlotte Powers (2V8) and Erika Yasuda (1V4).
• The returning Wolverines on this year's roster are an accomplished bunch, led by All-American Gutknecht (2018).
• This group has achieved at the conference level as well, with All-Big Ten honors (Gutknecht; 2018) and two Big Ten Freshman of the year accolades (Gutknecht; 2016, Bentley; 2017).
• The accomplishments of the 2018-19 team are not limited to the water. This team retains 19 athletes who earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition last spring.
• Last season, the Wolverines spent all season occupying a top-10 place in the Row2K Coaches' poll and began the year at No. 5, the second straight season with a top-five preseason ranking. The team went on to maintain a season-long ranking in the top 10, including a top-seven ranking in six of nine weeks.
Tweet of the Week
Heading to the @HOCR ? Here's a Few Things to Know https://t.co/zV8iCwtYAS pic.twitter.com/5XCKVyUhtU
— row2k (@row2k) October 15, 2018
A Look Ahead
Saturday, Oct. 28 -- at Michigan State (novices only), TBA
